Ezra Bailey | Stone | Getty ImagesOpening presents during the holidays is of course a lot of fun. But for many, opening those credit card statements will be just the opposite.Months before the holidays hit, consumers were already bracing for the anticipated costs.More than half of 2024 holiday shoppers, or 55%, felt stress at the costs associated with the season, according to a survey conducted online in September by The Harris Poll on behalf of NerdWallet.Still, 32% of consumers thought it was important to purchase holiday gifts and experiences to show their love for family and friends, despite the expenses,…
Author: usaeverydaylife
The famous wrestler Sting, in describing his character change in 1996 from a clear babyface to a darker, enigmatic character, offered the perfect axiom about predicting the future. Noted the Stinger: “The only thing that’s for sure about Sting is nothing’s for sure.”This would be the same for sports media. There are some trends that look obvious (increased investment in women’s sports media; legacy media consolidation and layoffs; Netflix becoming a bigger sports player; more media leaning into sports betting revenue), but who knows? Still, we bring you some guesses for 2025.1. Tom Brady will walk away from broadcasting before…
America’s oldest horse racetrack is closing after running its last race on the final weekend of 2024. Freehold Raceway in New Jersey, co-owned by Penn Entertainment, tried for decades to land a casino but failed. Like many tracks around the nation, it grappled with declining attendance and revenue. It had been operating for more than 170 years.”Unfortunately, the operations of the racetrack cannot continue under existing conditions, and we do not see a plausible way forward,” said Howard Bruno, the racetrack’s general manager, in a news release announcing the closure.But industry insiders, investors and other enthusiasts believe horse racing in the United…
While it has been a strong year for the S & P 500 , some names are more to thank than others. The broad index is tracking to end 2024 higher by 23.8%. That far outpaces the average gain of 11% seen between 2014 and 2023. Some stocks ran circles around that performance, thanks to their connection to broader trends like artificial intelligence that captured investor interest this year. Here’s the top three performers in the S & P 500 year to date: Palantir Palantir is, far and away, the best-performing S & P 500 member of 2024 . Shares…
Baylor plays LSU on Tuesday night in the Texas Bowl, Dave Aranda’s team looking for its seventh straight win to finish the season in a matchup that sets the table for the Fiesta Bowl quarterfinal.The Bears bumping right up against a College Football Playoff game is fitting because one might argue Baylor could be in it without the most brutal loss in school history — one of the wildest on record in a sport made for mind-melting defeats.As we prepare to cross over into 2025, let’s celebrate the 25 worst losses of all time. “Worst” is mostly an evaluation of…
Despite an attempt to broaden away from megacap tech, Wall Street remains reliant on those names. The S & P 500 climbed around 23% between the start of 2024 and Dec. 19. Bespoke Investment Group found that the “Magnificent 7” — a group that includes high fliers such as Nvidia , Microsoft , Apple and Meta Platforms — contributed 13.7 percentage points, or more than half, of that total gain. Coming off 2023’s year of tech driving the broader market rebound, investors wondered if the bull market could expand and have other groups participate. While there were points at which…
The Federal Reserve’s interest rate cut forecast may not be as generous as fixed income investors had hoped, but the tax-exempt municipal bond space will continue to offer a solid deal in the new year. The central bank has dialed back interest rates three times in 2024, but policymakers only see two more reductions in the new year. That’s down from four they had predicted in September. “There’s a lot of uncertainty out there on the path for rates going forward,” said Paul Malloy, head of U.S. municipals at Vanguard. “When I think about that, what’s the best asset that…
Home Depot navigated a challenging 2024 marked by elevated interest rates and a cautious consumer. But as the year progressed, signs of recovery emerged, setting the stage for a rebound in 2025, fueled by increased housing turnover and pent-up demand in the home improvement market. Year-to-date performance: up 12% Forward price-to-earnings multiple: 25 versus a five-year average of 21.5 Our rating: Buy-equivalent 1 Our price target: $440 a share HD YTD mountain Home Depot year to date performance. ’24 look back Home Depot had a rollercoaster year in 2024, starting slow in a high-rate environment before finding momentum later in…
Manchester United’s final game of 2024 felt like the moment the big top on the Old Trafford circus started to sink.Before now, United’s calamities in the last decade or so have been incubated to a tier most other clubs can only dream of: finishing bottom of a Champions League group; coming eighth in the Premier League but winning the FA Cup; losing a Europa League final 11-10 on penalties.As we turn into 2025, however, the ground on which this weekly entertainment show is built is crumbling to a base level.After Nottingham Forest and Bournemouth, Newcastle’s 2-0 win inflicted on United…
Though 2024 is shaping up to be a strong year for the S & P 500, some major underperformers restricted upside. The index is tracking to end the year about 23.8% higher, far outperforming the 11% advance seen in an average year between 2014 and 2023. However, those gains weren’t equally distributed: the top-performing sector of communication services has surged more than 40%; the biggest-laggard of materials has slid nearly 2%. Indeed, while the best-performing stock in the S & P 500 surged more than 300% this year, the biggest losers plummeted more than 60%. Here’s the top three worst…
